Kristin teaching & learning in Korea

Hello New School Year!

Life has been rather busy here. School started two weeks ago which is also when I happened to receive the textbook I have to base lesson plans on. Sweet right?

So, I’m teaching 3rd and 2nd graders this semester on a bizarre staggered schedule with, I think, three new Korean teachers who seem pretty open to my method of teaching (tricking the kids into talking, basically) and generally want to help me out.

A week into the new year and I got visited by my former 3rd graders who are now in high school and were quick to tell me that high school is hard and that they miss me. It was cute. The days were wearing me out but at least I got to hear my students tell me how much they missed me over break.

My icebreaker exercise involved the students writing questions that they had for me anonymously on slips of paper and me reading the answers. Oh what an embarassing joy that was for me. Questions ranged from “do you like me” to “can you kill the dog?” to “how do you make your hair” even to “what are you doing here?” Someone said that they would die for me…interesting but not a question. Someone remarked on my afro saying that they liked it in one sentence and that I have “poodle hair” in the next.
Oh, you crazy kids.

Well, thank goodness I love em because otherwise the 8 hours extra of afterschool programs a week would seem daunting and awful. But…I get to teach whatever I want. I think I’m excited for the programs now and not just the extra money….the extra money is nice, though.